Private Practice

Season 1 – 85% – A starting position in a shortened series, a main female protagonist and an effort to fit into the work collective. It would be the same nonsense to defend against comparisons to the beginnings in Seattle Grace as it would be to announce in advance that "that can't work anymore". Shonda Rhimes' handwriting cannot be denied, but the overall mood is somewhere else. While in Grey's Anatomy the interns mainly tried to learn, not interfere, and integrate, in Los Angeles a professional team was in place right after Addison's arrival, functioning more comprehensively than you see in the original series. The reason why the beginning of Private Practice is not scored with absolute ratings is ultimately simple. It is the feeling that the series, which captivates me with its characters, emotions, and individual cases from the pilot episode, has been here before, and the unique moment of surprise is missing, that someone has made a series exactly for me. Thanks to the appealing leads (especially Cooper and Sam, for now), I suspect that this story can work perfectly alongside the Greys. Season 2 – 90% – I can't even express how pleasant it was to see that Private Practice really didn't happen by chance and that the Wellness staff shut up all those who took it as a useless cash cow for fans of Grey's Anatomy. Meredith and the rest of Seattle Grace Hospital are still half a step higher at the top of the series totem pole, but things are starting to happen in Los Angeles that take your breath away. The initial hesitation about the financial situation disappears when the scripts jump into friendly romantic waters literally at a high speed, and the subtle romances from the first season are kept in comparison. The brilliant climax of it all is the final episode, the last twenty minutes of which are one big breathtaking crescendo, and the open ending promises things that are almost unbelievable. There is definitely a fully lit beacon here. Season 3 – 100% – A peak that was impossible to overcome. The relationships tore my nerves from the first moment to the last, and I suffered for the main characters and often for the patients, and in the end, I understood that Private Practice has decided to live its own life. While crossovers with Grey's Anatomy are not absent, they are just minor pleasant plot upgrades, little insertions, instead of being the climax of the series. However, the main reason is that the characters have outgrown all the boxes they could be put into before, and even with the beauty and effort of Kate Walsh, characters like Pete and Sam have easily become the clear leaders of the series. On the other hand, Violet has confirmed that she will probably never grow on me. The question remains how long the relationships can be maintained in their current believability without us experiencing an influx of new characters. But after such a perfect season, any admission of concerns would be almost blasphemy. Season 4 – 80% – A hesitant period. We all know who has been there for a while, we all know what will be the stumbling block in relationships, and yet, are the incessant script tricks still enjoyable? Definitely not all of them this time. Mainly at the beginning, the creative team obviously doesn't know where to go, and everything works mainly because of their love for the characters. Lee McHenry stands out, as does his dramatic storyline, which is not far from causing severe viewer depression. The stumbling block may be the fact that for many fans, the end of the third season made the relationship storylines settle into a favorable picture, and there are therefore fewer partnership twists. And though the story has become more mature as a result, it is not always for the better (and Violet is unbearable even in a stable relationship). After closing several long-term storylines (Betsy, Pete's family), there is naturally a feeling of whether it would be worth ending the series with a still reasonable number of seasons. However, I underestimated Shonda Rhimes back then because her latest triumphs had yet to come. Season 5 – 80% – One thing you cannot deny this medical complex – it still maintains its standard. Although it has subtly slipped down by a star in the last two seasons, it still easily meets the reasonable viewer satisfaction. The script contributes to a great acting mega-concert (Caterina Scorsone cannot be anything but loved), and the ordinary cases either emotionally blackmail you successfully or surprise you at all costs. I enjoy both, so I gladly overlook the fact that it is simply not possible to examine the main characters more thoroughly due to their higher average age compared to Grey's Anatomy. Besides, Benjamin Bratt in the position of "how did I even get here" is a refreshing element that allows the series to discover new narrative levels. Season 6 – 90% – Six years have passed faster than I would have liked, and a private clinic is leaving the screens. And surprisingly, it is at one of its peaks. What's more, if this team had reached the finish line in a slightly different composition than allowed by the casting tricks at ABC, it would have been a complete peak. Nevertheless, the final season offers a wealth of fresh ideas and proven relationships from the first to the last episode, but in no way does it follow any expected notes. Each character faces a personal micro-drama interwoven with a slightly unexpected but perfectly escalated storyline of the missing girl, and when even the last script knot is untied, I couldn't help but smile slightly sadly. Maybe the second half of the series played it safe too much and sometimes dozed off on its laurels, aware of how much we love the main characters. But I can't shake the feeling that even in the shadow of the invincible Grey's Anatomy, they managed to find their own face and path. (18.06.2009) (minder) (meer)